This graffiti appeared on the Woodruff building in downtown Springfield in early November. / News-Leader File Photo

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Springfield police searched four individuals’ cellphones in December in connection with graffiti on the Woodruff building and other Springfield locations, according to a recently filed affidavit.

Two of those searches required a search warrant, but in many cases individuals involved with graffiti in Springfield like to share photos — on a public Facebook page monitored by law enforcement.

The Dec. 5 search warrant affidavit was filed after “several months” of investigation into numerous property damage incidents throughout Springfield, the document states.

“During the investigation, I identified subjects involved in countless incidents,” the affidavit reads.

On July 25, police served a search warrant to Derek Schlueter at 1909 E. Cherry St., according to the affidavit. Police located “numerous items of graffiti paraphernalia” at the address, the document states.

Also on Nov. 20, according to the affidavit, the officer viewed video surveillance of four to six subjects damaging park property obtained from a Springfield-Greene County park ranger. The video didn’t clearly show the subjects’ faces, the document states, but did show one subject photographing others painting the building.

The page, which was put up in early June, had 219 photos of graffiti allegedly from around the Springfield area as of Thursday morning. The most recent image was uploaded on Jan. 26.

“I created this page to further share my art, and connect with other writers from the Springfield area,” the description of the page reads. “I've been writing since early 2010 with several of my friends.”

The identity of the person responsible for the page was unknown as of Dec. 5, according to the affidavit.

On Dec. 1, according to the affidavit, police arrested Derek Schlueter, Levi Smith, Dylan Miller and Zachary Bernier after an officer observed the four tagging a trash receptacle in downtown Springfield. The officer had previously identified them as being involved in the property damage and burglary of the Woodruff building, the document states.

In a post-Miranda interview, according to the affidavit, Bernier said he only recently started using the tag KONG and admitted to tagging the trash receptacle. Bernier gave consent for police to search his cellphone. The phone was seized as evidence after an officer found photos of Schlueter tagging FEBEL TKO in a storm drain tunnel, the document states.

Schlueter denied tagging the receptacle in a post-Miranda interview, according to the affidavit, and said he only liked photographing graffiti. Schlueter gave consent for his cellphone to be searched, and it was seized as evidence after officers found numerous photos of graffiti on it, the document states.

Smith and Miller refused to answer questions without an attorney, according to the affidavit. Their cell phones were seized as evidence.

Two search warrants allowing police to search the cellphones were issued Dec. 5, according to the affidavit.

Police removed three DVDs worth of information from two phones.

The search warrant returns and supporting documents were filed with the Greene County Circuit Clerk and made public on Tuesday.

None of the four have been charged in the incident, according to online court records.